Student Gets Prison Time for Importation and Trafficking Through the Darknet

Federal authorities arrested Daren Moshe, a 24-year-old college student, outside a New York UPS store on October 3, 2014. He was selling α-PVP on the darknet. Two years later, a plea deal was finalized and Moshe was sentenced to six years in prison.

The Department of Homeland Security began investigating Moshe in September, 2014. A package of α-PVP, hidden inside lamps that resembled rabbits, was opened by customs in New York. The combined weight of the powder in the shipment was 507 grams.

An investigation ensued. The name on the UPS box was a fake name, registered using a fake ID and fake bank account. Investigating DHS officer noted all of this, recording the rabbit trail of information that linked Moshe to the crime.

Agents intercepted packages, causing them to “get returned to sender.” In reality, the packages were simply intercepted and analyzed. The DHS then received permission from UPS to operate as undercover UPS agents and have access to the delivery box. The package delivery service that delivered many of Moshe’s packages, TNT, similarly agreed to cooperate with